Cricket's troubled year

2008-12-18 15:23

New Delhi - A timeline of cricket's troubled year after India called off their tour of Pakistan on Thursday:

Jan 06

- India spinner Harbhajan Singh banned for three Tests after being found guilty of racial abuse of Andrew Symonds during the stormy second Test against Australia in Sydney. Australia captain Ricky Ponting had accused Harbhajan of making a 'monkey' comment at Symonds, the only black player in the home team.

Jan 08

- Experienced umpire Steve Bucknor, at the centre of the Harbhajan controversy, replaced by Billy Bowden for the third Test.

Jan 29

- Harbhajan, having protested his innocence, cleared by the ICC of racially abusing Symonds. He pleads guilty to a lesser charge of using abusive language and is fined 50 percent of his match fee. India agrees to continue tour.

March 11

- Australia pull out of planned tour of Pakistan over security fears after bombs kill 20 people in Lahore.

July 03

- Result of Pakistan's forfeited Test match at The Oval in 2006, the first such outcome in the history of the game, changed from an England win to a draw by the ICC.

Aug 24

- ICC postpones September's Champions Trophy in Pakistan over security fears. The move comes two days after South Africa refused to send their team, while players' associations from Australia, New Zealand and England urged their players not to travel.

- The BCCI say England's two-Test series in India will go ahead. The schedule for the series revised again with the first Test in the southern city of Chennai from December 11-15 and the second in northern Mohali from Dec 19-23.

Dec 03

- West Indies agree to tour England in 2009 as replacements for Sri Lanka whose leading players signed up to play in the IPL, which clashes with the two-Test series in England.

Dec 07

- England, training in Abu Dhabi, agrees to resume tour of India.

Dec 15

- India, inspired by a century from Mumbai native Sachin Tendulkar, beat England by six wickets to win the first Test.

Dec 17

- Reports emerge that Texan-born billionaire Allen Stanford is considering pulling the plug his 20 million dollars match between his Caribbean Superstars and England. Stanford says he will unveil his future cricket plans in January.

Dec 18

- India calls off its tour of Pakistan, due to take place from January 6 to February 19, as tensions between the two nations rise in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan asks Sri Lanka to step in for a replacement series.